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rahul.chowdhury: Newbie | Next Rank: 10 Posts; Posts: 2; Joined: Tue Nov 30, 2010 7:35 pm

by rahul.chowdhury » Wed Apr 06, 2011 11:27 pm

Hi,

Found this problem in the Kaplan800. Am not very comfortable with the OE.

After much thought, negated all options other than c and e. Choose E because I felt it was more paralled to the second part - 'using' in both part of the sentence. C has 'used' Vs 'using'.

Need to know, if there is a better way of arriving at the OA which is C

Thanks
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Unlike the use of headset telephones,which allow drivers to keep their hands on the wheel, all drivers are prohibited from using portable phones while driving.

a. <same >
b. Besides using headset telephones, which allow drivers to keep their hands on the wheel
c. Unless headset telephones,which allow drivers to keep their hands on the wheel, are used
d. Other than the use of headset telephones,which allows drivers to keep their hands on the wheel
e. Aside from using headset telephones which allow drivers to keep their hands on the wheel

Source: Beat The GMAT — Sentence Correction | Wed Apr 06, 2011 11:27 pm

vineeshp: Legendary Member; Posts: 965; Joined: Thu Jan 28, 2010 12:52 amFollowed by: 34 members; Thanked: 156 times; GMAT Score:720

by vineeshp » Wed Apr 06, 2011 11:46 pm

Between C and E:

E: Aside from using headset telephones which allow drivers to keep their hands on the wheel.
What is aside from using headset? Should have been some other option.

The driver and the aside from ... are not parallel at all.

C:
Unless something is done, drivers are not allowed to do something else.

Used versus using is not the right way to look at it.
Here used is not meant to highlight past actions. It highlights a general practice.
(There is some term for this tense, which I don't remember)

Vineesh,
Just telling you what I know and think. I am not the expert.

uwhusky: Legendary Member; Posts: 1172; Joined: Wed Apr 28, 2010 6:20 pmFollowed by: 4 members; Thanked: 74 times

by uwhusky » Thu Apr 07, 2011 12:06 am

...

Yep.

gig92: Senior | Next Rank: 100 Posts; Posts: 78; Joined: Fri Jul 23, 2010 2:22 amFollowed by: 1 member; Thanked: 2 times

by gig92 » Thu Apr 07, 2011 12:26 am

rahul.chowdhury wrote:Hi,

Found this problem in the Kaplan800. Am not very comfortable with the OE.

After much thought, negated all options other than c and e. Choose E because I felt it was more paralled to the second part - 'using' in both part of the sentence. C has 'used' Vs 'using'.

Need to know, if there is a better way of arriving at the OA which is C

Thanks
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This sentence is a very good example of how the concepts can be twisted for the test.
I am giving it a try: The important thing is to realize that opening phrase is a Noun modfier, but which noun it is meant to modfiy..? Author certainly is trying to say that "all drivers are prohibited...".

Unlike the use of headset telephones,which allow drivers to keep their hands on the wheel, all drivers are prohibited from using portable phones while driving.

a. <same > -- not good due to lack of logical parallelism and incorrect Noun being modified

b. Besides using headset telephones, which allow drivers to keep their hands on the wheel
-- Here the opening modifier is an "Adverbial phrase" Which CANNOT modify a noun - drivers

c. Unless headset telephones,which allow drivers to keep their hands on the wheel, are used

-- CORRECT - First "Unless headset telephones", a NOUN PHRASE, is rightly decribed by "which allow..." and has correct verb "are used..". Second it plays a part of "subclause" as an adjectivial phrase which modifies "all drivers...".

d. Other than the use of headset telephones,which allows drivers to keep their hands on the wheel
-- Again mismatched modfier in D & E.
e. Aside from using headset telephones which allow drivers to keep their hands on the wheel

gig92

Brian@VeritasPrep: GMAT Instructor; Posts: 1031; Joined: Thu Jul 03, 2008 1:23 pmFollowed by: 255 members; Location: Malibu, CA; Thanked: 716 times; GMAT Score:750

by Brian@VeritasPrep » Thu Apr 07, 2011 9:06 am

I love this question! Modifier-based questions are terrific because they so often necessarily embed clues. When a modifier is used to start the sentence, there are really three forms:

__________________________________, akljlfkajlfja;jkflsj; (the modifier is underlined - you're stuck with the noun and have to pick the correct modifier)

Adjldjljfdalkjlsja, ___________________________ (the modifier is fixed and the noun is underlined - you have to pick the correct noun phrase)

__________________________,______________________ (both sides of the comma are underlined, so you have to pick the correct pairing)

In any of these events, you know that they're testing a modifier just because of the setup: Descriptive phrase, comma, subject of the sentence; and one or both portions are underlined.

So in this question, before you start to worry about parallelism or anything else, your first move should be to check all the modifiers. Because we're stuck with "All drivers", we need a phrase that can modify "drivers". And none of these modifiers work.

However, C changes the game - it's not a modifier. Because "Unless headset phones are used" has its own subject and verb (phones...are used), it's not a modifier - it's its own clause. That's the difference we're looking for - the given modifiers don't work, so the correct answer is the one that replaces the modifier with the "unless X is true, Y is true" clauses.

Strategically, the underlined modifier setup should push you to really dissect that before anything else, and know that one way the GMAT can fix a bad modifier is to make it not a modifier at all...

Brian Galvin
GMAT Instructor
Chief Academic Officer
Veritas Prep

Looking for GMAT practice questions? Try out the Veritas Prep Question Bank. Learn More.

vikram4689: Legendary Member; Posts: 1325; Joined: Sun Nov 01, 2009 6:24 amFollowed by: 14 members; Thanked: 105 times

by vikram4689 » Tue Jun 28, 2011 5:36 pm

Hi Brian,

Can you please explain why B is wrong. Meaning of Besides that i know are :
-> in addition to
-> apart from

B - Besides using headset telephones, which allow drivers to keep their hands on the wheel,all drivers are prohibited from using portable phones while driving.

I think the modifier correctly refers to drivers because its the drivers who use telephones.

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